Shou Xin, though not talented, was also not uncommon.
Those men around him bore the same talentless fate.
At first as the small fry charged, he fought a brutal battle against them winning by a hair, yet then came those of his own level.
The Underbosses of the various syndicates which had come together to witness his death.
Knowing he could not win, he charged the weakest looking one, abandoning all defense which caused the man to falter slightly allowing Shou Xin a chance to escape.
Burning the Primeval Qi he had worked so diligently to cultivate his strength soared for a short while.
Unlike the Qi which is gathered and refined, Primeval Qi once lost could not be recovered as it was like cutting off a piece of a cliff and throwing it into the ocean, or a glacier vanishing into the sea.
One could not recover it if not by some sort of heavenly defying means.
However, due to this sacrifice he had managed to survive and escape the city where a manhunt had begun in the underground.
The guards of Sea Spring were slow to react.
"I was crossed by someone." He glared at the earth at his feet, "The guards were bribed with how slow they came. The thugs knew my route clearly and prepared in wait. A fire erupting somewhere else in the city to draw attention. It was a setup from the start."
The Sea Spring Executioner's Blade he had been taking care of after having it given to him, was the only thing that did not break.
His eyes bulged for a moment as he coughed up a large amount of blood.
At this point, he didn't know how much of the blood on his body was his, and how much was someone else's.
"I-, Is someone there!" The flash of a small blade, a girl and a shrill voice, "Come out-, AHH!"
Tripping over his leg the knee drove it's way into his leg yet he already lost most of his feeling down there, not making a noise.
As she began pulling herself up and grabbed the knife, she realized that it was squishy.
"This isn't a tree root?" Her hands searched up his leg patting around.
"Hey."
"AH!" Her scream nearly blew out Shou Xin's eardrums, and he suddenly felt greatly annoyed.
"Can't you leave a dying man to his own?" He said annoyedly, "It's dangerous to get involved, so go."
"Dying?" The girl's facial expression hardened and she patted him around with her hands more searching for his arms.
Once she found them, she wrapped them around her neck trying to get him to stand.
"Unless you want my insides spilling out, I suggest you leave me alone." He chuckled lightly, "Now go away. Your bothering the dead."
"You're not dead yet." She replied stalwartly, "Lay down."
"Ah… I will haunt you, you know?"
She didn't reply to that, instead focusing on Shou Xin who she had laid down.
"Why should I be afraid? I'm already blind, so anything jumping out from the dark is just another day, now stop talking."
Her reply made Shou Xin, who was in a half awake state, realize it.
"You're blind? I thought you were a thief." He laughed only to almost choke on his blood, though she promptly bent his head in a rather uncomfortable position, but it did what it needed to do.
His clothing was taken off by her using her knife though to her great irritation, Shou Xin would not stop making fun.
"Ow! You're stabbing me!"
"Ack! I've been killed!"
"I'm the ghost, come for you, little girl."
Naturally, these were all horrible jests.
Shou Xin did not have a knack for such things, nor could he care. He just wanted her to leave soon so she wouldn't be caught up in what was certainly to come.
Yet, he could not resist.
In time, his wound stopped it's incessant bleeding.
The Primeval Qi burned intensely and her own medical abilities had managed to do so. Which meant he was no longer dying.
Yet, his Inner Sea which was empty, had now barely a tiny clump of dirt floating above, the amount of Primeval Qi which could once create a small pile was now a few crumbs.
His internal strength had dropped so weak it was safe to call him a cripple.
"I am Feng Wuqing." She said, "What is your name?"
"...Call me whatever you like."
Her brows furrowed.
"Then, Executioner. You're condition has stabilized. But, you should stay longer and recover some strength."
There was a short silence and Shou Xin slowly got to his feet, dragging the Sea Spring Executioner's Blade off the bed.
Killing intent billowed out furiously as he stood above her, looking down with a terribly dark complexion the eyes hidden behind those of a killer.
"For saving my life, I won't kill you. Now leave, and pretend you never saw me if you value your life."
He stood awaiting the scream, the twisting of her facial features in terror… anything.
Yet only silence followed.
His gaze narrowed and he put away the blade, the killing intent evaporating and his complexion recovering.
As he touched her, he realized her pulse had slowed.
"Passed out?" Shou Xin set the blade aside and quickly set out to lay her down, very carefully he moved her stiff body onto the bed, "Damn it."
His hands had begun to shake.
Just doing so little had ruined the little strength he'd gathered.
Standing up, his body suddenly stopped as he felt a vice-like grip on his forearm.
Turning back, the girl, Feng Wuqing, had grabbed hold and with his terrible strength, he could not stop her.
"Let go." His killing intent filled the room and he reached for the a small knife on the counter, pressing it against her arms veins, "Now."
Yet, she didn't let go making him frown. For a long time the two remained like this until Shou Xin eventually put the knife away.
"I knew it." Feng Wuqing spoke relaxedly.
"What?" Her words ease despite the situation caught Shou Xin off guard.
"You are gentle."
Her smile bloomed like flowers. Though not the kind found in beautiful shops nor magnificent fields. More like the tenacious weeds which bore their leaves against all odds.
"I am not." His pride rose to the surface and he pulled to get away, yet she did not budge and instead he ended up falling forward only to be caught by her.
Terribly embarrassed, his killing intent stuttered as his face went red back to his ears. It was now that he felt incredibly grateful that she was blind yet he felt terrible for thinking so.
Having fallen forward into her arms, he found he had been caught, his strength exhausted. Moving had taken more out of him than he had anticipated.
Laying him down on the bed like a kite with it's wing's cut, Feng Wuqing's smile turned serious as she spoke, "Don't try anything like that again! It was so scary, I almost attacked you!"
A shiver ran up his spine at her words.
"Ah yes, this girl almost broke you. Tch, tch, tch, you are one disgraceful trash, you know that?" Suddenly as though from the abyss, a voice arrived in Shou Xin's head.
A black cat lay on the windowsill above the bed, it's long silky black tail swinging back and forth elegantly it's large eyes locked onto Shou Xin.
"Lost everything we worked for the last few months in an instant. Do you have any idea how hard it was watching, and now I have to do it again?" Vienna continued bitterly, "You were so close to consolidating it all and breaking the first chain too. At least then, you would be a little more useful."
Shou Xin wanted to get a word in, but Feng Wuqing who was right beside him would hear, and since she couldn't see and Vienna was speaking through transmission, he made the connection Vienna did not want to be noticed.
"At least your techniques haven't regressed." Vienna closed his large cat eyes, "Your instincts are really the only okay thing about you. Even in an almost dead state, you managed to wander into this girl's path."
Shou Xin grit his teeth, but then Feng Wuqing walked back into the hut carrying food with her.
He stared at the meal, his eyes narrowing into slits at the disgusting pile of slop atop the plate and immediately spoke.
"I will cook." Before she could express herself he continued to assure her, "I won't run away."
She grimaced slightly, "That bad?"
He slowly nodded though she couldn't see, "No. I simply have a sensitive diet. If I eat foods which are unknown I could explode. It's a condition I've had since I was a child."
"Oho?" Vienna's mocking came instantly even before her reply, "This is the biggest joke in the world! I, The Sword Deity Vienna's disciple, can explode because of food! What heaven sent luck!"
He kept his mouth zipped as Vienna's judging gaze cast over him like pins and needles all over his body.
"That's so sad," Feng Wuqing appeared to believe his bullshit, "I will let you cook but… we don't have anymore supplies. I need to go get it."
"I can come with you!" Immediately, Shou Xin reacted.
An opportunity to increase his Primeval Qi was one which was not easily found.
Feng Wuqing, who was on her way out just smiled and nodded.
In a moment, the bedsheets which were tucked in and had been sufficient to restrain him, came undone.